Keep the National Library of Israel out of the Education Ministry - editorial

On the sidelines of the government’s judicial reform, another significant proposed legislative amendment was overshadowed last week that could have a serious impact on a national asset. Education Minister Yoav Kisch is seeking to transfer the authority of the National Library of Israel (NLI) to the Education Ministry.

The proposed amendment did not come completely out of the blue. It will allow the ministry to control appointments to the library board and comes as a reaction to the appointment of former state attorney Shai Nitzan as rector of the NLI in 2021. A clause in Kisch’s amendment would lead to the termination of the tenure of the current board members 30 days after the bill passes into law, summarily ending Nitzan’s term in office.

Kisch’s amendment was approved by the government on Friday as part of the Economic Arrangement bills accompanying the state budget. Like the budget, it still needs to pass in the Knesset, but given the coalition’s clear majority that is likely to happen automatically.

We believe this would be a serious mistake.

As the NLI website notes, the National Library of Israel was founded in 1892 as a world center for preserving the cultural and heritage treasures of the Jewish people. In 2007, the Knesset enacted the National Library Law, legally granting the NLI independent status, to “collect, preserve, develop and endow collections of knowledge, heritage and culture in general and those of the Jewish people, the State and the Land of Israel, in particular,” and provide the general public free access to its unique collections.

Chairman of the NLI Board of Directors, Sallai Meridor, issued a statement saying: “The demand to change a law that is unique to the National Library, maintained as the status quo for almost two decades, poses a real threat to the continued existence of the treasures of the Jewish people housed in the Library.

“The greatest treasure of the National Library is the public’s trust in it. Private individuals entrust their works and collections to the benefit of the entire public and for the benefit of future generations.

Highlights of the NLI collection include handwritten works by Maimonides and Sir Isaac Newton, and the personal archives of leading cultural and intellectual figures such as Martin Buber, Franz Kafka and Naomi Shemer.

Serving people of all religions, the NLI is home to the world’s largest collections of textual Judaica, Jewish and Israeli music; exquisite Islamic manuscripts dating back to the ninth century; and maps of Jerusalem and the Holy Land, as well as world-class collections of manuscripts, ancient maps, rare books, photographs, communal and personal archival materials.

The library emphasized that the change will cause irreversible damage to its status and to the private donations essential to its continued functioning.

Dozens of Israeli writers and poets – including David Grossman, Haim Be’er and Eli Amir – signed a petition on Saturday criticizing the government’s plans, saying: “We strongly oppose any political interference in the selection of the management of the National Library – and demand the continuation of its independent and professional functioning.”

They pledged that if the planned transfer of control of the NLI comes to fruition, “we will not entrust our archives to it, we will refuse the libraries to transfer copies of our books to it and we will not give a hand to any of its activities.”

The bill is clearly part of the Netanyahu government’s general thrust and is a personal attack on Nitzan, but there should be no place for this.

Those who support the legal reform should join with those who oppose it and stand firmly behind keeping this national asset beyond the political fray.

After decades at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem’s Edmond J. Safra Campus at Givat Ram, the National Library is due to move to its own new, modern building across from the Knesset later this year. This should be the start of a great new chapter for the library. The move will make the library more accessible and should not be endangered by petty, personal rivalries. There is a bigger story at stake. We remain the People of the Book and the National Library should remain as a treasure trove for all.